Faith And The Shadow

Ergo justus ex fide vivit, beatus exsultat in specie: et ideo sanctus homo vivit interim in umbra Christi, sanctus angelus in splendore vultus gloriae gloriatur. Et bona fidei umbra, quae lucem temperat oculo caliganti, et oculum praeparat luci; scriptum est enim: Fide mundans corda eorum. Fides itaque lucem non exstinguit, sed custodit. Quidquid sane est illud quod videt angelus, hoc mihi umbra fidei servat, fideli sinu repositum, in tempore revelandum. Annon expedit tenere vel involutum, quod nudum non capis? Denique et Mater Domini vivebat in umbra fidei, cui dictum est: Et beata quae credidisti. Habuit et de Christi corpore umbram, quae audivit: Et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi. Nec enim vilis umbra, quae de virtute Altissimi formatur. Et vere virtus in carne Christi, quae virgini obumbravit, ut quod impossibile erat mortali feminae, objectu tamen involucri vivifici corporis ferret praesentiam majestatis, et lucem sustineret inaccessibilem. Virtus plane, in qua omnis contraria fortitudo debellata est; et virtus et umbra fugans daemones, tutans homines; aut certe virtus vegetans, umbra refrigerans. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, In Cantica Canticorum, Sermo XXXI, De excellentia divinae visionis, et quomodo in praesenti sanctis viris gustus divinae praesentiae variatur, pro variis animae desideriis. Source: Migne PL 183.944d-945b

Therefore the just man lives by faith, 1 and the blessed one rejoices in the vision. So the holy man yet lives in the shadow of Christ, and the holy angel above is glorified in the glory of the splendor of His face. But the shadow of faith is a good, for it tempers the light to the darkened eye and prepares it for the light. It is written: 'He cleansed their hearts by faith.' 2 Therefore faith does not extinguish the light but protects it. Whatever the angel truly sees is preserved for me by the shadow of faith, desposited in its faithful lap, to be revealed in time. If you cannot yet grasp it, will it not profit to have it veiled? The Lord's Mother lived in the shadow of faith, to whom it was said: 'And blessed is she who has believed.' 3 Even the body of Christ was a shadow for her, she who heard: 'The power of the Most High will shadow you.' 4 That is no common shadow which is fashioned by the power of the Most High. Certainly there was power in the flesh of Christ that overshadowed the Virgin, since by the barrier of the wrapping of His vivifying body she bore the majestic presence, and endured the unapproachable light, a thing impossible for a mortal woman. Which power indeed overcame every opposing might. Both the power and the shadow puts demons to flight and protects men.Certainly it is an invigorating power, a cooling shade. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Sermon 31, On the excellence of the Divine vision, and how in the present the taste of the Divine presence differs for holy men, because of the differing desires of the soul. 1 Habak 2.4 2 Acts 15.9 3 Lk 1.45 4 Lk 1.35